Firefighting bagpipe and drum corps from across U.S. are bound for Houston

Zane Krempin, far right in foreground, and other Dallas Firefighter Pipes & Drums members perform "Amazing Grace" in Dallas.

Zane Krempin, far right in foreground, and other Dallas Firefighter Pipes & Drums members perform "Amazing Grace" in Dallas.

Photo: Kye R. Lee, The Dallas Morning News

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Zane Krempin of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Pipes and Drums band walks past saluting honor guard members during a memorial service to fallen firefighters Thursday, June 7, 2012 in Dallas. (G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas Morning News) less

Zane Krempin of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Pipes and Drums band walks past saluting honor guard members during a memorial service to fallen firefighters Thursday, June 7, 2012 in Dallas. (G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas ... more

Photo: G.J. McCarthy, Staff Photographer

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Honorae Bishop of the Sharpstown Civic Association puts a ribbon on a tree Monday near Fire Station 51 in remembrance of the firefighters killed in Friday's blaze and as a reminder of the daily risks firefighters take. less

Honorae Bishop of the Sharpstown Civic Association puts a ribbon on a tree Monday near Fire Station 51 in remembrance of the firefighters killed in Friday's blaze and as a reminder of the daily risks ... more

Photo: Karen Warren, Staff

Bagpipers converge on Houston to honor fallen firefighters

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Dallas firefighter Zane Krempin said he learned to play bagpipes because he needed a way to express thanks and gratitude for the service of fallen colleagues.

Krempin said wearing his dress uniform to firefighters' funerals wasn't enough for him to convey feelings of brotherhood and appreciation.

"Pipes say things words can't," said Krempin, 39, who will be among six members of the Dallas Firefighters Pipes and Drums to play at Wednesday's memorial for the four Houston firefighters who died in last week's Southwest Inn blaze. "This is my way of serving."

Like Krempin, hundreds of members of firefighting bagpipe and drum corps across the country will arrive Tuesday in Houston in time for a 6 p.m. mass band practice at Hefley's Bar in midtown.

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They won't be the only firefighters from outside Houston at Wednesday's Reliant Stadium memorial. Officials from the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association said Monday they estimate 5,000 firefighters nationally and worldwide to attend. Another 400 firefighters statewide are expected to fill in for Houston firefighters who want to attend the memorial, the union said. An estimated 100 firefighters might serve as substitutes on Thursday and Friday as funerals are held.

Houston residents were honoring the firefighters in other ways. On Monday evening, about 100 people from the Sharpstown neighborhood wrapped blue and red ribbons around trees near Fire Station 51, where two of the dead firefighters worked.

"That's 'our' fire station," said Jacquelyn Williams, who came with her family to tie the ribbons around trees lining the Bellaire Boulevard median between Hillcroft and the Southwest Freeway. "We're heartbroken. Our community is grieving."

The effort is also intended to acknowledge the daily risks taken by firefighters. "We need to be reminded of the dangerous nature of the work they do," said Jim Bigham with the Sharpstown Civic Association. "We need to be appreciative of that. I think the neighborhood is showing that."

Wednesday's memorial is attracting firefighting bagpipers from as far away as Orange County, Calif. Marc Stone, battalion chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, said he and five members of the Authority's Pipes and Drums he founded will play at the memorial because they want to honor their firefighting brothers and sisters.

Inside that fellowship, bagpipers and drummers experience a closer bond, he said. Almost all of them know Houston official Hunter Schappaugh, a pipe major for the HFD Pipes and Drums and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local Honor Guard Pipe/Drum Band. Schappaugh leads the international association's band at an annual Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial Observance held in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"He is our band leader when we go to Colorado," Stone said. "We're going to support Houston and prop up Hunter through this difficult time. That's our job. Our motto is 'Honor Our Fallen.' "

The tradition of playing bagpipes at funerals for police and firefighters began more than 150 years ago after Irish and Scottish immigrants arrived in the United States. Bagpipes often were played at Celtic weddings and funerals, including those of Irish and Scottish immigrants who became police officers and firefighters.

Stone said he started his pipes and drum group in 1997 to carry on tradition. Tuesday's rehearsal probably will include standards such as "Amazing Grace" and "Going Home."

Jeremy Walker said he will be among five members of San Antonio Firefighters Pipes and Drums group to play Wednesday. His participation is a way to repay fallen firefighters for their service and sacrifice. "They made us look good, and we need to pay for that," said Walker, who learned to play bagpipes about a dozen years ago. "We need to pay their families for that. We need to go to their families and thank them."